Chile's 9-11 Toll: 1 Dead Officer, 255 Arrests

SANTIAGO, Chile — Chile's long night of violence marking the anniversary of a Sept. 11 coup is over, and police tallied up the results on Wednesday: one officer was killed and 26 wounded. There were 255 arrested, including 83 children.

Five public buses were set on fire to make barricades in the streets of the capital, prompting the transportation agency to cancel service for more than a million people. There was widespread looting through the night, and at least 58,000 homes were left without power after hooded protesters threw metal chains onto power lines in at least 12 of Santiago's 35 districts, the electricity company said.

The protests mark the 1973 coup that began Gen. Augusto Pinochet's long dictatorship.

Metropolitan Police Chief Luis Valdes says 27-year-old Officer Cristian Martinez was shot to death trying to stop the looting of a supermarket.

President Sebastian Pinera said his government will do all it can to identify his killers. Valdez said suspects are under arrest.

Deputy Interior Minister Rodrigo Ubilla said the number of arrests had declined since previous years, but the violence had intensified, with firearms being used more than ever. There was "a greater number of gunshots, of weapons and we're also concerned about seeing a greater number of young people in the streets," Ubilla said.